Back to the Garden...

A thread on LATOC, regarding Hippies, has me thinking....someone posted Joni Mitchell singing Woodstock, in Canada...Haunting.
So I'm thinking about the Eternal Struggle...the conflict between Dominators and Cooperators, between Freedom and Control...between the Hope and Despair.
I have always been an Enlightenment Fella...a Renaissance Man. I believe, implicitly, in the Perfectability of Mankind...that We have it within Us to be as Gods....
I still believe that We have this Potential....but, the actual achievement feels out of reach. The Forces of Darkness have been very busy, these last 40 years.
We have stopped thinking and reaching...the Machine has distracted us, confused us, so that we seem stuck on the treadmill.
The 60's represent a time when it all could have changed....but we let Them change the rules....dictate the Foundational Assumptions.
Take Economics.
We treat Economics, Money, as if they are some Natural Law...like Angular Momentum, or Gravity; Unchangeable,immutable.
But, they are Creations of the human Mind, and as such, are subject to our Collective Will.
This is used as an excuse to leave things alone that should be altered...like Poverty, famine, and the Gross Inequality that, increasingly, plagues us.
"We don't have the money"...we are told...for Universal Healthcare, Education, Housing...the whole Roddenberrian Star Trek Ideal.
We must sit idly by while millions starve in Africa, while millions succumb to Malaria, while millions suffer the Horrors of War...while millions go uneducated.
It is curious that we seem to have plenty of money for War and Corporate Profit...for the continued maintenance of the Extravigant Lifestyles of the Obscenely Rich.
All because we believe Money is a Force of Nature...Immutable.
I submit that it is not.
Money is a human creation....when I go apply for a loan at the local bank, the Banker I convince that I am worthy goes into the back, into the Inner Sanctum, and performs some mysterious ritual...and Money is thereby Created. Like Magic.
We Create Money every day.
Why can we not create money to educate the masses? To reorganise our Civilisation into a more sustainable and fair configuration?
"We cannot", we are told, "because it would violate the Inviolable Laws of Economics"...
We hear about "The Invisible Hand", the "Market", the "Profit Motive", etc. as if these were independant Entities, existing separately...without our creating them.
We are, again, Prisoners to our own Creations.
Lies, all of it.
The Lie serves to facilitate the Rape of the Planet, in the service of the Machine...to Subjugate Mankind in the Service of a tiny Minority who have fooled everyone else that they are Worthy....to convince all of Us that it Must Be Thus....TINA!
There was a time that this Lie was on the verge of being Exposed....
when a significant portion of Humanity was poised on the edge of realisation that It Didn't Have To Be This Way....
Instead of direct confrontation, this time, the Machine resorted to Subterfuge.
It coopted the music...made it into an "industry"...it absorbed the Media, the Publishing..Academia...the field of Ideas....and convinced just enough of the young folks of that time that, indeed, TINA....There Is No Alternative.
It is instructive that during this period, the loudest Voices for an Alternative were assassinated. MLK, RFK,JFK, John Lennon...many more were absorbed, or Ruined, by the Machine.
The entire, burgeoning Movement was Ruined...by anomalies such as Manson, Altamont, Patty Hearst.
I don't think this was accidental...indeed, it was much too convenient.
Add to this the introduction of the Meme, "Conspiracy Theory" to the Lexicon...meaning "Crazy"...and it really becomes clear.
The Machine found it's Popular Hero in Ronald Reagan...an actor and Corporate Whore who played on the Fears of those who were already unsettled by this Movement, and it's Implications.
The Fearful Majority rallied to the defense of the Machine...without comprehending it's Nature.
Now, 40 years later, America is hopelessly divided between the Stupid and the Hopeless...and Ruled comfortably by the Greedy Operators of the Machine...who are really just as much Slaves to it as the rest of us.
It appears, to me, at least, that the only Hope in changing all of this is to Hunker Down and wait for the Machine to collapse of it's own excess.
So Insidious is the Mind Poison...it cannot be countered by Reason. It has been inoculated, made Immune to any thoughts of an Alternative Way.
Mankind will only mature when we shake off the yoke of the Machine.
For that, a critical mass must Want To, and believe that it's possible.
Therein lies our only Hope.
'Dropping Out is a Revolutionary Act." (Wulf Zendik)

Yo Fumar.

4th of July,2010....Fell asleep at 7pm...so I woke up at 2am. It is the way of things.
The Barrio is wakeful this morning...probably due to partying...dogs are talking more than usual, more cars, doors and assorted human-related noise.
I'm thinking about Liberty, and smoking....and the overall complacency, mindlessness and slogan-slinging that accompanies this Holiday.
I smoke....for a good example....I have smoked cigarettes and pipes since I was 16.
I tried to quit a few times...then decided that I enjoyed it....and ya hafta die somehow....it does something therapeutic for me...and I don't really require the assent or permission of science, government or society to believe this, and be happy with it. It is my choice.
I have always been conscientious about bothering other folks with my cloud.
I installed an exhaust fan over my bed for winter, so there's ventilation. When out and about, I would be careful to refrain from sending clouds of smoke onto folks that were near me, wouldn't smoke in someone's house if they didn't, put the spent butts in my pocket, etc etc.
I remained in the "smoking section".
Therein lies the rub....there are no smoking sections, anymore.
20% of the population...of the People....smoke....and they are forced out into the rain, sleet or oppressive heat to do so.
Want a hotel room, while you're on the road? One can't hardly find a smoking room.
You are a Pariah....a Second Class Citizen.
And ya hafta pay dearly for the privilege.
Taxes are insane on Tobacco...State, Local and Federal.
Near as I can tell, taxes account for 50% of the cost of major brand ciggs.
This, we are told, goes to pay for healthcare.
(read the rest of my blog to appreciate the Irony, there...)

"But, it's bad for you..."...is the constant refrain, when a Smoker grows weary of this, and complains. As if that excuses the intrusion. Life, itself, is "bad for you"...everyone dies. The food we eat, the Rocket Fuel that is in the fat cells of every human on the planet, the Ozone and other assorted nasties that fill the air, the cars we drive...let alone the wars and other assorted Violence we visit on one another...all of these, and more, will kill you.
And if one dodges these, if one stays in a cocoon of safety, one will still expire, at some point.
The "it's bad for you"-thing is not good enough...it misses the Point.
The Point is, what gives You the Right to dictate what I do, if I ain't harming anyone else?
A very Loud Minority of Busy-Bodies has decided that there Shall Be No Place For Smokers....
And the remaining 75% of the population who doesn't smoke, does nothing to stop that tiny Minority from Lording it over the 20% who do.
It doesn't affect them, they are not Oppressed, or Taxed.
What to do?

I resolve, on this, the birthday of America, to smoke where I please, whether it's legal, or otherwise sanctioned, or not.
If I am not allowed to smoke anywhere, I shall smoke Everywhere.
One hears a lot of rhetoric about the Founding Fathers....
I wonder what Thomas Jefferson would do....he, after all, grew and smoked Tobacco...actually developed improved varieties....
WWTJD?
An Harming None, Do as thou Will...

Alex in my Room

I feel Hurricane Alex like it's in my room with me...like a pile of river rocks on each of my joints.
The eye of the storm(950mb) is more than 700 miles away, we're getting the outer bands...in addition to the Tropical Layer that was already here, and the weak cold frontal boundary that moved through a few days ago....5 days of rain.
5 days of Pain.
As usual with these things, I initially thought it was due to overwork...I've been pushing to get the Library floor in.
But the pain is so much more than can be accounted for with careful labor alone.
I have learned to pace myself...not to try to do too damn much.
And I think, visualise, before hand...so that I am extraordinarily efficient in my labor.
A slow, but steady, Glide...
I amaze everyone with what I get done....they don't see the consequences.
Wife and Children see them, but don't know the extent.
My jaw muscles and teeth hurt from the clenching...an unconscious mechanism for holding my carcass up.
2-3 hours of work...then all day in bed.
Yesterday, the first portion of Obamacare went into effect...High Risk Pools for Folks with preexisting Conditions.
One of the criteria for eligibility is to have been denied insurance in the last 6 months.
So I spent the day trying to apply for insurance....so I can be denied.
It'll cost $30, nonrefundable "filing fee", plus $170,refundable(eventually) first month's "premium".
This is for a "policy" with a $10,000 "deductible". (!)
Before they know of my numerous issues....which will be caveatted right out, of course.
The Government Insurance will cost, as near as I can tell, $600 per month.
This is an incredible improvement in that it will cover the Preexisting stuff...I can get a hip,etc.
But $600 is 2/3 of our monthly income.
There are provisions for the desperately poor....but there's a problem.
My Mom got some inheritance....around $15k, so far.
She put it all into my savings account, which has had $2 in it for 10 years....to hide it from her soon to be Ex Asshole.
There ain't gonna be a box to check for that situation...
Government will believe that it's all mine...ergo that I can easily afford $600 per month.
Sigh.
Can't win for losing.
Best option still remains Cuba.
When my Grandma's place sells, take $20,000 and make my way to Havana...by way of Mexico...
I intend to e-mail Michael Moore, today, for advice on how to do this.
I maintain that this is the Magical Free Market at work....best estimate I can get from the "local" hospital is upwards of $100,000 to do all that I need done.(they are not forthcoming on cost estimates).
Cuba, as near as I can tell, will charge $18,000....
What would Exxon do?

Five years I've been trying to navigate the American System...in increasing Pain, decreasing mobility...
And all for nothing.